


Clichés Exist For A Reason

by ashtin



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Cliche, Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:42:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27639050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashtin/pseuds/ashtin
Summary: “Are you saying that you’re not just using it as an excuse and that it’snotpart of your big plan to score a dinner date with said ‘cute boy’?” Changbin asked, and did his best to keep his blush at bay.“Is it working?” The boy asked in an innocent tone, slowly blinking at Changbin.
Relationships: Kim Seungmin/Seo Changbin
Comments: 10
Kudos: 61





	Clichés Exist For A Reason

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the new AU all about trope clichés~

To say that Changbin was tired would be a vast understatement.

He was up to his elbows in a research essay for his literature class that was on a book he’d only skimmed through and took a few pointers from SparkNotes, hoping that they’d have a quiz on the story and be done with it. But of course, that would have been too easy on the third year college student’s poor soul. No, they were assigned a paper that had a minimum of five pages with two highlighted, graded and corrected rough drafts, two mandatory peer reviews along with the professor’s graded drafts, and a final draft typed in MLA format all neatly tucked into a personal grading file folder with his name, class section, and due date labeled on the outside.

He’d nearly asked his professor if she also wanted a visual aid of sorts, maybe a poster board to display his works cited page, or illustrations of the author.

Of course, the paper had been assigned two weeks ago now, and he was working on his final draft with his two rough drafts scattered around his laptop that was pushed to the edge of his study table to make room for his music theory assignment that was due the next morning.

“Is this seat taken?” A voice belonging to a boy who looked to be around his age asked as he pointed to the chair directly across from Changbin’s mess.

He shook his head and went back to skimming through his essay drafts. There was a note his professor had made on the clarity of one of his sentences and mentioned something about conciseness, but he couldn’t remember what part it was for the life of him!

“Want some help?” The same boy picked up one of the sheets of homework that Changbin had strewn about in the middle of the study table.

“Have you taken MATH 3312?” Changbin asked skeptically once he saw which paper the stranger had picked up.

He didn’t need anyone to waste his precious time. The library was scheduled to close early due to some sort of maintenance being done on the elevators, and he didn’t have access to well working wifi from his dorm, which he needed in order to submit a few music history assignments once he finished the parts he could do by hand. Those were on standby due to the fact that he simply couldn’t stand to listen to the music excerpts from the damned assignment more than five times in a row. And, well… he might have gotten stuck on a couple that had begun to dig into his last remaining nerves.

“I’m in it right now. The Tuesday and Thursday section from 9:35AM to 10:55AM.” He answered and pushed the rim of his glasses further up his nose from where they had slid down.

“Wait, who’s your professor?” Changbin questioned him further. His class was on the same days and at that time, too, but there were multiple professors teaching the course along with his own.

“Smith.” The boy raised his eyebrows at the other as if he knew something Changbin didn’t.

“Wait. That means you’re in my class.”

The stranger nodded his head with a small smile that said  _ ‘bingo’ _ . “We’ve been in the same class for the past month and a half, man.”

Changbin’s nose wrinkled at the offhand nickname, but he ignored it.

“I guess… I guess I’ve never paid enough attention. I don’t remember ever seeing you.”

Changbin might have imagined it, but he could have sworn that the other boy was beginning to blush.

“Ah, well it’s kind of a big class. Pretty sure we sit on opposite sides of the room, too.”

“Did you recognize me when you walked up, or was it just a coincidence that we happened to be in the same class when you saw my paper?”

Changbin knew he wasn’t imagining the blush that crept up the boy’s neck and ears that time.

“I- I may have recognized you. But, this campus isn’t particularly huge. I’ve seen you around in the dining hall and the music building, too.”

Changbin fought the smile that had begun creeping on his lips and shook his head slightly. “You… Do you realize how stalker-ish you sound right now?”

The boy gave him an unimpressed look. “Look, I just wanted to offer you my help, okay? If you’re just going to mess with me I’ll g-”

“Relax, heart-hair.” Changbin mumbled, referencing the other boy’s bangs that fell on his forehead in an almost perfect heart shape. 

Changbin sighed. He knew the problem that had him throw the homework page halfway across the table would never get done without a little bit of help, either. “I’d appreciate it. Your help, that is. Number fifteen is a bitch.”

The boy grimaced. “I know exactly which one you’re talking about.” He glanced around Changbin’s study table and looked back at him when he didn’t find whatever he was looking for.

“Have you been doing the problems without a calculator?! You literally cannot find the standard deviation for number fifteen without it…”

“I haven’t bought new batteries for mine, yet. I left it in my dorm because I refuse to pay a small fortune for  _ four _ AAA batteries at the bookstore. It can wait until I find the motivation to go shopping off campus.” Changbin informed him and began to clean up his essay papers that littered a good portion of the table’s surface.

“Well… How about we finish up the homework with  _ my _ calculator and then go get you some new batteries off campus, and then maybe grab dinner on the way back?”

Changbin hesitated for a moment. He knew he’d be a right fool  _ not  _ to accept the boy’s help. Their homework was a good twenty-percent of their overall grade in the shared math class, and Changbin had already missed one of the submission dates, so he couldn’t exactly afford to not turn this one in. And the higher the grade he received on it, the better.

Still, he found it a bit surreal that a total stranger ‒ aside from the fact that they shared the same class ‒ had appeared like a beacon in the night to offer just what he needed to finish the work  _ and _ have a better chance at making a decent grade on it.

“What’s in it for you?” Changbin’s mouth moved before the words fully processed in his brain. Damn his lack of filter.

“Oh, I dunno...” Stranger-boy said smartly, “The pleasure of knowing that I helped a cute boy pass his homework submission grade?”

It was Changbin’s turn to blush at the other boy’s bold statement. 

_ Cute?  _ Who,  _ Changbin?!  _

“Are you saying that you’re not just using it as an excuse and that it’s  _ not  _ part of your big plan to score a dinner date with said ‘cute boy’?” Changbin asked, and did his best to keep his blush at bay.

“Is it working?” The boy asked in an innocent tone, slowly blinking at Changbin.

The bold question caught Changbin off guard, making him stutter through his response.

“L-Let’s finish the homework and we’ll see where it goes from there, hm?” Changbin answered him, suddenly feeling more bashful than he expected.

Changbin had to admit: the boy was cute. His dark chestnut hair complimented his slightly tanned skin, and his black circle-rimmed glasses were absolutely adorable. His fashion was nothing short of how cute Changbin was finding him to be, either. He was wearing a deep blue sweater ‒ that looked like it was trying to swallow the boy whole ‒ over a pair of black skinny jeans and white converse; it was all just  _ cute.  _ He looked downright cozy, too, but Changbin knew that part was just an illusion. There was no way skinny jeans  _ that  _ tight could be even remotely comfortable.

“You’re staring.” Heart-hair boy deadpanned as he slid his backpack across the study table before circling it to plop into one of the empty chairs next to Changbin.

“You’re‒” Changbin swallowed hard. He didn’t know how to react to someone who was so blatantly hitting on him. He figured it might have been much simpler if the boy was ugly. But, to Changbin’s further embarrassment, the heart-haired boy was anything  _ but.  _ And now that he was up close to the stranger’s face, Changbin could clearly see just how annoyingly attractive he was.

“My name is Seungmin. And you are  _ still  _ staring at me.” Seungmin leaned forward and smiled when Changbin gulped and moved back.

“Wow.” Seungmin breathed out. “You’re like,  _ cute  _ cute.”

Changbin coughed and looked away, ears on fire, before he choked out a quick, “Let’s get to work.”

“Sure, we could get to work and I could teach you how to go through all eight steps that number fifteen requires…” Seungmin began as he started to pull a couple of notebooks from his bag. “Or I could let you copy down all of my answers and then teach you how to do the practice problems in the back of the book another day.”

Seungmin slid the notebook marked  _ ‘MATH 3312’  _ toward Changbin in exchange for one of the music history worksheets the other had laying about as well.

“Oh, you did mention you’ve seen me in the music building, didn’t you?” Changbin recalled.

Seungmin peered at Changbin from over the top of the worksheet and nodded.

“Does that mean you take some of those courses, too?”

Seungmin didn’t answer him verbally. Instead, he lifted the flap of his backpack once more and filed through the slim notebooks within it until he found the one he was looking for and pulled it out.

“Looks like you have Greschner,” Seungmin remarked, flipping through his notebook until he found the page he was looking for. “I have Proksch. Lucky for us that they use the same curriculum, huh?”

Seungmin sat his fully completed worksheet next to Changbin’s one that wasn’t even halfway finished and grinned at the awestruck expression Changbin was sporting as he looked back and forth between the papers and Seungmin.

“Are you an angel?” Changbin asked. “Did I do something amazing in my past life and this is my divine reward?”

Seungmin giggled and leaned back in his chair looking very pleased with himself.

“Just copy it all down. We’ll work on the new stuff together when you’re not drowning in one of-” Seungmin paused to squint at the top of one of Changbin’s multiple rough drafts lying on the table, “Dr. Holden’s research papers.”

Changbin’s eyes were wide and glassy as he looked back and forth between Seungmin and the mess of research paper shrapnel on the table. “What was that you mentioned about dinner? Anywhere you’d like to go? My treat?” 

“Hmm,” Seungmin pretended to think over the proposal for a moment before he looked at Changbin with the softest smile he’d ever seen and nodded. “I’ll let you take me to dinner… As long as you promise to remember I exist in class from now on.”

“I don’t think I could forget you if I tried.”

*******

“Do you want me to walk you back to your dorm?” Changbin asked, looking up at Seungmin with stars in his eyes - okay, it was really just the dull reflection of the lampposts that were littered around the campus walkways, but they looked like stars to Seungmin, and it made his heart flutter.

“I, uh,” Seungmin cocked his head in the direction of the student parking lot they’d just come from and smiled sheepishly, “I don’t live on campus. I have an apartment a few miles away.”

“Ah…” Changbin nodded slowly and moved out of the way when a random student brushed past them to get into the dorm lobby. “And it would probably be a waste of time for you to check in just to walk me up to mine.”

“Oh, shit. I forgot that visitors have to check in.” Seungmin frowned. “I left my wallet in the car.”

Changbin shook his head dismissively.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s really not worth the effort of having to go through the check in procedures unless you’re staying for a while. Maybe some other time?”

Seungmin bit his lip to keep his frown from completely flipping upside down into an excited smile at the implied invitation and just nodded.

“Yeah. Whenever.”

Changbin glanced at the eerie looking parking lot and back to Seungmin. Gone were the stars that were in his eyes before, now replaced with a wary look mixed with nerves.

Changbin stuck his hand out with his palm up.

“Let me see your phone.” He coughed. “Please.”

Seungmin did his best to reel in the smirk he could feel his lips trying to pull into and dug his phone from his pocket and unlocked it before he deposited it into the other boy’s waiting hand.

Changbin made quick work of putting his number into Seungmin’s contacts before he gave the device back with rosy cheeks.

“Text me when you get home.” He mumbled, looking everywhere around them but at Seungmin. “And if you don’t text within the hour I’m going to call the police to send out a search party.”

“Cute.” Seungmin whispered, staring down at the other boy while he put his phone away. “I’ll try not to forget.”

*******

Changbin let his door swing shut behind him and leaned his back against it, sighing dreamily.

“You’re back pretty late for someone who has a morning lecture.” Chan, his roommate, mumbled without tearing his eyes away from the screen of his laptop.

“Chan. I think I’m in love.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s her name?”

“His name is Seungmin.”

_ “Oh.”  _ Chan looked up then and nodded, looking impressed at the news. “Congrats, man. Is he cute?”

“Adorable!” Changbin exclaimed with a pout.

Chan’s lips split into a wide and blinding grin.

“Did you get his number?”

“Ah…” Changbin lifted his phone to his face and frowned even deeper when he didn’t have any new messages from an unknown number. “I’m working on it. He’s supposed to text me when he gets home.”

“What’s in the bag?” Chan asked, nodding to the plastic shopping bag Changbin forgot about.

“Batteries for my graphing calculator, a candy bar that he wanted me to try, aaaaand a two-pack of mechanical pencils that he swears by, so I’m gonna give them a shot, too.” Changbin emptied the contents of the bag onto their small kitchenette counter and slid his backpack from his shoulders before he put it on the floor.

“Did you eat already?” Chan looked back at his laptop and began typing something as he continued talking, “I got pizza from the C-Store but I’m down to go get something else if you’re hungry.”

Changbin dropped his bottom into their armchair and sighed. 

“We went for dinner after he finished helping me with some of my homework.”

“Oh. You had a whole  _ date!”  _ Chan said enthusiastically, eyes drawing away from his laptop once more to smile at Changbin. “That’s great, Binnie!”

Changbin tilted his head back and stared up at the ceiling with a dreamy smile on his lips with a hum.

“We’ve been in the same class for a while and I never realized it. He’s taking a few of the same music courses, too! We’re going to meet up before theory tomorrow morning.” Changbin pulled his phone out and looked at his screen. His smile dimmed when he was met with a blank screen. “That is, if he remembers to text me… It’ll be a little hard to set up a meeting time and place without being able to text him first.”

“I’m sure he’ll text you, Changbin. Give him a little b-”

_ Ping! _

Chan raised his eyebrows and looked down at Changbin’s phone before he glanced back at his roommate.

“Speak of the devil,” Chan mumbled. “You going to answer that?” 

“Yeah. Uh. Goodnight!” Changbin jumped up from the chair and snatched his backpack up from the floor on his way to his room, shutting the door behind him before he unlocked his phone and opened the new message thread from an unknown number.

“Get it, Binnie!” Chan called after him, voice laced with amused giggles.

*******

_ from Unknown Number [Maybe: Seungmin?] _

\- hey, this is Seungmin! i just got back to my apartment :)

_ to Seungmin _

\- hiiiiiiiii! I’m glad you got back safely!

_ from Seungmin _

\- yeah, i don’t even live that far from campus, really. but i swear i managed to catch every. single. red light.

_ to Seungmin _

\- Oh gosh, sounds like my luck lol 

_ from Seungmin _

\- it’s honestly a curse.

\- so tomorrow

_ to Seungmin _

\- Right! I was going to ask about that, too ^^

\- I have that class with Holden @ 8am…

_ from Seungmin _

\- that’s fine! i have bio at that time too lol

\- we can meet up right after? i know the lit building is clear across campus from the music building.. 

\- but we could do halfway and meet at the library

\- so we can get coffee or something.. and walk to the music building together for theory.

_ to Seungmin _

\- That sounds nice.

\- and since the biology building is eons closer to the library than the lit. building…

\- I’d like a caramel macchiato ^^

_ from Seungmin _

\- sounds doable.. 

\- i’ll see you in the morning?’

_ to Seungmin _

\- Yeah. Definitely. I’ll see you in the morning, Seungmin :)

_ from Seungmin _

\- GRAATE!

\- GREAT*

\- fucking caps

\- Great! ^^

\- Goodnight! :D :D: D

_ to Seungmin _

\- LOL 

\- Goodnight, Seungmin~

*******

“Fuck.”

“Language.” Hyunjin chided, tossing a Cheeto across the couch and laughing when it nailed Seungmin on the cheek.

“Someone’s happy.” Jisung said, squinting at Seungmin from over the top of whatever non-fiction flavor of the week he’d picked up from the library a few days ago. “Don’t tell me… You finally approached him?”

Seungmin let his phone drop on top of his chest and he covered his face with his hands.

“Yeah.” He whined weakly.

“And? What’s the verdict looking like?” Jisung pried further. He was definitely entitled to dig into Seungmin’s love life after having been on the receiving end of Seungmin’s many “Woe is me” pity parties about how his crush would never know he existed.

“It’s looking like I’m fucked.” Seungmin said without uncovering his eyes. “He’s so freaking cute and cool, but he’s also hot and funny!”

“Sounds promising.” Jisung said, eyes turning back to his book as a small smile slipped onto his lips. “Maybe you should see if he has any friends for Hyunjin to snatch up since he’s equally as annoying as you are when it comes to being single.”

“Bitch.” Hyunjin sneered, flinging another Cheeto across the room and rolling his eyes when it landed it Jisung’s lap.

Jisung scoffed and popped the chip into his mouth, speaking around it as he crunched on it, “But am I wrong?”

“Nope.” Seungmin said distractedly as he scrolled back and forth through his and Changbin’s short thread of messages.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are always appreciated! thank you ^^
> 
> places you can find me!  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/lovelyjjix)  
> [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/lovelyjjix)


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